Honoring 10 outstanding young faces of the whole army

The Ministry of National Defense honored 10 soldiers and defense employees aged 21-35 for their outstanding achievements, including Captain Vu Van Cuong and athlete Tran Hung Nguyen.

At today's honoring ceremony in Hanoi , Captain Vu Van Cuong, Head of the Drug and Crime Prevention Team, Pa Thom Border Guard Station (Dien Bien), impressed by his direct participation in 290 special projects and cases over the past 10 years, arresting and handling 377 drug criminals with more than 600 kg of various types of drugs.

In 2023, he received the Third Class Military Exploit Medal at the age of 30; four days ago, he received the title of Outstanding Young Vietnamese Face of 2023 awarded by the Central Youth Union.

Outstanding young faces of the entire army at the honoring ceremony on the afternoon of March 26. Photo: Diep Nguyen — Outstanding young faces of the entire army at the honoring ceremony on the afternoon of March 26. Photo: *Diep Nguyen*

Among hundreds of special cases, Captain Cuong remembers the case of the task force lying in wait for 7 days in deep forests, high mountains, and cold rain. They communicated with each other by code, ate dry food to maintain their strength, and did not miss any movement of the criminals. Finally, the special case was solved on the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year 2022.

"There were cases that required a long chase, facing hot weapons or criminals offering money as enticements, but the soldiers were determined to warn and handle them," he said. The most recent case he participated in was on March 3 - the traditional day of the border guards, seizing more than 32,000 drug pills.

During the war against drugs in peacetime, Captain Cuong’s comrades sacrificed their lives and suffered lifelong injuries, but he believes that soldiers are always proud to contribute to keeping peace for the people. The border captain said the honors and awards give him pride and encouragement to continue contributing.

Tran Hung Nguyen on the track of the men's 400m individual medley final at the 31st SEA Games, May 2022 at My Dinh. Photo: Duc Dong — Tran Hung Nguyen on the track of the men's 400m individual medley final at the 31st SEA Games, May 2022 at My Dinh. Photo: *Duc Dong*

At the age of 21, professional military lieutenant Tran Hung Nguyen of the Swimming Team, National Defense Sports Center 5 (Navy General Staff) is the youngest representative face of the honor. Away from home since the age of 10, the swimmer from Quang Binh has had to continuously train and compete at home and abroad.

At the 32nd SEA Games, Nguyen won 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal for the Vietnamese team. He was also the first Vietnamese athlete to break the men's 400m individual medley record at two consecutive SEA Games at the age of 19.

At the 31st SEA Games in May 2022, Nguyen won the gold medal in the men's 400m individual medley final with a time of 4 minutes 18 seconds 10. In December 2019 in the Philippines, Hung Nguyen won first place with a time of 4 minutes 20 seconds 65 at the age of 16.

General Luong Cuong, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, said that the overall achievements of the entire army in 2023 have partly contributed to the contribution of the army's youth. This is a shock force, the more dangerous the place, the more exemplary it is. 10 outstanding young faces, 35 promising faces of the entire army in 2023 were voted and commended among thousands of young people who are excellent in various fields, helping to spread the image of Uncle Ho's soldiers in the new era.

"The young faces honored today are not satisfied or stop with their achievements but continue to promote their abilities and set an example to do their tasks well," he said, affirming that the leaders of the Ministry of National Defense always believe in the youth of the entire army.

In addition to the honor, the leaders of the Ministry of National Defense also presented the decision to recruit officers and promote Nguyen Tuan Anh; promote Captain Le Van Tung and Captain Pham Thi Ngoc Ha ahead of schedule; and raise Nguyen Trung Duc's salary ahead of schedule.

10 outstanding young faces of the whole army in 2023:

1. Captain Vu Van Cuong, Head of Drug and Crime Prevention Team, Pa Thom Border Guard Station, Dien Bien Provincial Border Guard.

2. Captain Le Van Tung, Deputy Commander of Squadron 2, Regiment 937, Division 370, Air Defense - Air Force.

3. Lieutenant Pham Van Tu, deputy captain of ship 51-11-66, Brigade 649, Department of Transport.

4. Major Hoang Duc Danh, Mass Affairs Assistant, Political Department, Division 5, Military Region 7.

5. Captain Nguyen Sy Tuan, Political Commissar of Battalion 97, General Staff of Military Region 4.

6. Sergeant Duong Huy Hoang, student of the Military Technical Academy.

7. Nguyen Tuan Anh, specialist of Application System Security Department, Viettel Cyber Security Company.

8. Nguyen Trung Duc, Deputy Director of M951 Cryptographic Key Production Center, Government Cipher Committee.

9. Captain Pham Thi Ngoc Ha, Editor of the Military Radio and Television Center

10. Professional military lieutenant Tran Hung Nguyen, athlete of National Defense Sports Center 5, Navy

Hoang Phuong